Egypt to face Mali in Women's #FIBAU16Africa Final

KIGALI (Rwanda) - The stage is set for the Final of the FIBA U16 Women's African Championship 2019 as Egypt and Mali will be renewing a rivalry which dates back to the inaugural edition in 2009 with Mali winning all their past three meetings. 

Egypt overpowered Angola 71-50 in the first Semi-Final in a one-sided fixture that saw the North Africans cruise to victory in a convincing way that truly showed their character, fighting spirit and determination to make it all the way to the Final.

The victory avenges Egypt's loss to Angola two years ago in the Semi-Final 59-42 in Beira, Mozambique and firmly confirms that Egypt runs the show in youth girls basketball in Africa.

In the second Semi-Final, Mali made light work of Mozambique 102-25 to annihilate the southern Africans who visibly seemed too scared to compete against the record five-time African champions. 

Mali are the only unbeaten team in this tournament and will be coming into this final with the sole aim of maintaining the status quo while Egypt are looking to revenge their group phase loss 88-57. For them, it is a chance to write their names in the history books as the first side to defeat Mali in a Final. 

By virtue of making it to the Final, both sides have booked the two available slots to the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2020. 

Key Players:

Mariam Coulibaly (Mali) - 26PPG, 4.5RPG, 2.8APG

Lojain Elfatairy (Egypt) - 13.5PPG, 4.8RPG, 2.5APG

Both players have inspired their teams to come this far and deservedly so because they have shown absolute class in every game, however, Coulibaly stands out for very many things and among them is her athleticism. She scores with ease and is tough on defence. 

Elfatairy is the soul of the Egyptian team. She commands respect as a point guard and thinks for the team but collectively as a team, Egypt stand a chance to trouble Mali in their second meeting at this tournament. 

FIBA